Reba McEntire Returns to Host 60th Academy of Country Music Awards: All The Details

The Academy of Country Music Awards will celebrate its milestone 60th anniversary next year in a very big way. 

On Tuesday (July 16), Prime Video, the Academy of Country Music (ACM), and Dick Clark Productions announced that the 60th Academy of Country Music Awards will take place on Thursday, May 8, 2025. 

The show is returning to the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas for the third year running. Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, which opened in 2016, acts as the cutting-edge practice facility for the Dallas Cowboys and hosts numerous major sporting events annually. The 2023 ACM Awards were the first awards show to be held at Ford Center.

Adding to the excitement, country music icon Reba McEntire is set to return as the host of the ACM Awards. This will mark McEntire’s 18th time hosting the show.   

“We’re excited to honor and celebrate the legacy of the ACM Awards all year long surrounding the 60th anniversary show returning to Amazon Prime Video next May,” Academy of Country Music CEO Damon Whiteside shared in a statement. “Reba McEntire has hosted more ACM Awards shows than any other artist in history, and after her triumphant return this year for the 59th show, there is clearly no one better suited to helm this milestone show! Our landmark 50th anniversary show in 2015 marked our debut in Texas, and we’re thrilled to return again to celebrate another major moment in ACM history. We look forward to seeing our industry, artists, and fans celebrate in Frisco, Texas next May for an unforgettable week!”

“I’m thrilled to be coming back to host the 60th ACM Awards on Prime Video,” McEntire, a 16-time ACM Award winner, added. “It’s going to be an absolute can’t miss show and I can’t wait to see everybody back in Texas!”

The 59th ACM Awards streamed globally to over 240 countries and territories exclusively on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch. 

Dubbed “Country Music’s Party of the Year,” the event featured electrifying performances and collaborations by top artists like Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Miranda Lambert, Post Malone, Parker McCollum, Thomas Rhett, and Lainey Wilson, with host Reba McEntire debuting new music. 

Highlights included show-stopping duets such as Chris Stapleton with surprise guest Dua Lipa, Kelsea Ballerini with Noah Kahan, Blake Shelton with Gwen Stefani, and Nate Smith featuring Avril Lavigne. 

Lainey Wilson was awarded the prestigious Entertainer of the Year, achieving the ACM Triple Crown trophy in just three years. Chris Stapleton led with four wins, followed by Lainey Wilson with three, and Luke Combs and Jordan Davis with two each.

After the May 16th event, Kane Brown’s soulful rendition of Ray Charles’ “Georgia on My Mind,” performed to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Charles’ own ACM Awards rendition, saw a 410% increase in U.S. On-Demand streams from May 16th to May 17th, powered by his powerful live performance. Lainey Wilson’s dynamic performances of “God Blessed Texas” and “Hang Tight Honey” drove U.S. On-Demand streams up by 330%, while Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani’s new single “Purple Irises” saw a 78% increase in streams. (Source: Luminate via ACM Awards)

In 2022, the Emmy-nominated ACM Awards marked a milestone by becoming the inaugural major awards show to stream live exclusively for a worldwide audience, offering an unforgettable concert experience where fans took center stage via Prime Video, Amazon Music, Amazon Fashion, Amazon Freevee, Amazon Live, and beyond. The 2024 ACM Awards are now accessible on demand through Prime Video, Amazon Freevee, and Amazon Music.